Breaking into the McKinsey
Hi people! I was reading the posts from this forum and got impressed by the practicality of the suggestions. I am a freshman who dares to get into the McKinsey who also seeks a help/advice. My story:
I am a freshman in the Middle East/Eastern Europe region (country is probably the unheard one). In my country there is no investment banks (now for sure it is an unknown place), only 1 PE which is state-owned (for the internship they require being a graduate!), no Bain, no BCG, only McKinsey (no worries Big 4 are there). I want to break into McKinsey. McKinsey in our office only has 20 consultants, managers are foreigners. Language barrier makes this office eligible only for its citizens (some studied abroad, some are locals). Coming to the my university, I think it is a target, as according to Linkedin only this university's alumnis are working there (4-5 people, other 15 are international managers/folk who studied abroad). The funny part is that nobody in my uni knows anything about MBB/BB (which gives a chance to avoid competition). Coming to my study major, it is BBA (business administration). I know my major is somehow easy-style major. Consultants from my school 1 had major in economics, 3 had major in BBA, 1 had major in international studies. I am planning to take finance, and econ courses. I asked an ex-consultant he said that in this particular office CS won't give you an advantage. Econ/BBA is enough. Also he said in this office extracurriculars doesn't count (70% GPA+30% internships.) I am not planning to switch to econ (why to switch if it won't help but would like to hear any opinion, maybe it would be enough to change my mind). Coming to the GPA, It is my 2nd semester, I somehow managed to get 4.0 GPA for the 1st semester. McKinsey also does not directly come to the campus for recruiting (if comes very rarely, therefore, I plan to get a referral from the alumni). Also, I plan to get Big 4 internships+FMCG. For Plan B (if I won't be able to break into, I am planning to get either Master's in finance or Master's in Management in Europe, then re-apply)
That is my strange case and story. I would be very grateful if someone would give me any kind of direction/feedback/anything. Every opinion regarding breaking into the elite industries such as BB/MBB would be great.
Thank You!
Do you mind sharing what country?
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So just to clarify, your goal is to break into McKinsey in Azerbaijan right, not to come to the US?
I wrongly tagged the USA in the post. My apologiez for that. Yes, my idea is to break into the local office. Softly speaking, the USA will be way to harsh and hard for me.
Well, it seems like you have a pretty solid path to break into the local office. Just do well at school in terms of the GPA, get the necessary internships, keep networking, and you have a solid path ahead. Make sure to maintain a plan B and a plan C as well, in case things don't go well. Good luck!
Appreciated a lot! My only concern is whether economics major better than my BBA major for the MBB. I think BBA major will be better because I will cover topics like Corporate Finance, Strategy management etc. Our economics major is more like applied mathematics (despite I have a sympathy towards STEM+Economics, I think if it won't have any big impact, then there is no need to harm GPA). Would like to know your opinion on that.
I would not be concerned about your major. In my McKinsey recruitment experience with a liberal arts major I never even discussed it in interviews. More than anything I would keep your GPA up, network hard, case prep quite a bit, and prepare well for PEIs. Sounds like you’re on the right track!
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